Field of Invention
This invention relates to obtaining and utilizing user reaction and feedback, more particularly to obtaining and utilizing user reaction and feedback on contents presented on an electronic device.
Description of Prior Art
With the ever-expanding Internet, and proliferation of electronic devices, such as computers and especially smartphones, getting information or contents becomes much easier and much more convenient than in the past. But the advance tends to be one-way traffic so far, with limited progress on obtaining reaction and feedback from the viewer or user side. User feedback information is highly desired by content makers and providers. In particular, it is an issue bothering advertisers. As advertisements are often subject to all kinds of thinking, advertisers are eager to know the opinion of users on their product. For instance, if an ad is unpopular, its effect would be severely compromised. So for contents presented on electronic devices, there exists a need to get reaction and feedback from viewers or users in the present digital age.
With the abundance of online information, users have more and more contents to watch or read, and thus become more selective. Consequently, the situation of sponsored content like advertisement, which often shows up by surprise, becomes more awkward. For instance, while users surf on the Internet and enjoy info they like to, online advertisements often play an interfering role, and may easily be labeled as intrusive, obtrusive, or interruptive, even though ads have been an indispensable part in the internet world. Indeed, advertisement is literally the supporting force behind many “free” online services and products. Without ad sponsorship, the Internet would be hardly “free”.
When an ad is not welcome by a user, it would be waste of time for the user and a display showing it, let alone running the risk of annoying or irritating him or her further. Thus, it is desirable to change the course when user's discomfort or annoyance toward an ad is detected. For instance, when it is sensed that a user doesn't like an ad, continuing showing the ad would become meaningless and unpleasant. Furthermore, quickly replacing a disliked ad with another one benefits both advertisers and users. The same thing is true for content other than ad, that is, if a user doesn't like it, better withdraw it and present another one. Therefore, there exists a need to change content presented on a device when negative reaction or feedback is detected.
Because showing some content on a display doesn't mean the content is watched by a user, it is often unclear how many users actually watched it and how long a user spent time with it. Thus charging sponsor or advertiser for showing their paid program may pose a guessing task. For instance, a user may just look away when a display has a content show, or look at one display area while ignoring the rest area. Thus it is desirable for sponsors, advertisers and service providers alike to know content viewing record, and it is also fair and desirable to have a charging system based on viewing records. Therefore, there exists a need to obtain a user's viewing history and to charge sponsor or advertiser fees accordingly.
There are many online contents and shows which users like to watch, but there are others which a sponsor would like users to watch, such as advertisements. Because most people tend to shun away from ads, it is desirable to create incentive programs to entice and encourage people to spend time watching ads. Consequently, there exists a need to compensate users for viewing content with awards.
The term “content” or “contents” are broadly referred to any information, materials, or programs presented on electronic devices. Contents may include email, message, news, info, game, video, social network, or other types of presentation shown on a device. Content presentation may be paid or sponsored by a party or sponsor, such as commercials or other paid programs.